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CV

Education

  • MIT 4.5 CEU | Certificate — Additive Manufacturing for Innovative Design and Production under Professor A. John Hart and Haden Quinlan
    Top of class

  • Themed Entertainment Design
    Theme park and environment design under Disney Imagineer Luc Steadman

    Visual Development and Art Direction Mentorship
    Under Pixar Art Director Anthony Christov

  • Certificate of Mastery in Fabrication (Creature, prop, set construction) under Legacy Effects master maker, Ted Haines

    Certificate of Mastery in In-Camera Special Effects with Joey Shanks

    Certificate of Mastery in Production Design with Jabbar Raisani and Eddie Yang

    Certificate of Mastery in Animatronic Design with Legacy Effects master, Craig Caton-Largent

  • Certificate—Business Japanese (Keigo)

  • BA - English
    Concentrations in Film and Communications

  • Radio, Television, Motion Picture (RTVMP) Institute — University Prep Communications Program. Awards: Best News Cast, Best Production Design

Experience

  • Head of Design / Branding / Tone and Manner / Product Design

    Originally joining as a consultant, I partnered with the CEO to decide the visual tone-and-manner of the company and its entities. In 2009 I joined exclusively in order to create an in-house design department. Helped bring the company from a small mutual to its current standing with average yearly growth of 11% and 2022 recurring revenue earnings of 53,022 JPYmn.
    Currently mentor three teams: branding, software dev. and product design; incl. designers, copywriters, media producers, and project managers. Lead creative strategy, creating style guides and design boards driving company-wide visual output. Designed and coordinated construction of 6 offices and 3 themed locations, as well as multiple events/shows.
    Key in finding new technologies to aid in reaching target audience and increasing customer interaction and personally fabricating prototypes for new non-financial products.

  • VFX Consultant / Production Coordination

    Film | The Brighton Miracle | Director Max Mannix | 2019
    Limited Visual Development for this 2019 Australian film. Managed the execution of creative deliverables, prioritized assets and created timetables, hired and directed Japanese production staff and external vendors. Ensured all forms, permits and local contracts met legal requirements and were filed correctly. Point of contact between Australian and Japanese crews, ensuring overall consistency and adherence to director’s creative vision.

  • Freelance Design / Art Direction

    Design partnership with designers Rie Saisu & Xavier Coton
    Commercial Production, Brand and Marketing Strategy, Design Consultancy, Event Production, Prop Fabrication, Space and Lighting Design.

  • On-Stage Artist | Arribas Bros. Ltd

    Made personalized character artworks for sale inside the Tokyo Disneyland theme parks. Cut silhouettes and drew caricatures of park guests. Interacted with Disney management and artists to ensure accuracy and brand adherence and guest satisfaction.

  • Associate Art Director

    Advertising agency in Winston-Salem, NC focused on innovating consumer promotions for regional and national clients. Associate Art Director and designer focused on branding and marketing.

  • VFX Artist / Compositor

    Independent Film Effects, Titles and Commercial Motion Graphics Design, development and implementation of client vision. Concept art, story boards, and compositing for TV commercials and indie films.

  • Portrait Artist | Rubio Arts

    Guest caricature and portraits. Art lead for Liberty Square and Epcot Center.

Skillsets

  • • Executive Level Presentation • Creative Direction / Production • Production Design
    • Project / Budget Management • Team Management • Training / Mentoring
    • Creative and Marketing Strategy • Construction Techniques / Pipeline

  • • Creative Direction • Art Direction • Film/Video - production and post production
    • Concept Design • Production Design • Storyboarding • Model/Texture Packets
    • Asset Creation • Prop Fabrication • Sculpture • Animatronic Design • CNC • Additive Manufacturing (3D printing)

  • • Microsoft Office • Adobe Creative Suite (full) • ZBrush • Maya • Blender
    • Fusion360 • Sketchup • Revit • AutoCAD • DaVinci Resolve • G-Code
    • mulitple 3D printing platforms

  • • English - Native
    • Japanese - Business
    • French - Conversant
    • Spanish - Conversant

    ——

    • Latin - Literate
    • Biblical Greek and Hebrew - Literate

Personal

  • I am the eldest son to, thankfully, still healthy parents in the Piedmont of NC, and have one younger, very handsome, brother who happens to look just like me.

    My stunning wife is Japanese, a genius and unfathomably patient. Perfect in almost every way except for her taste in men. We have four beautiful teenage daughters.

    I practiced Kyokushin karate for 26 years, Aikido for 4 years, and Emperor’s Long Fist Kung Fu for 2 years. Now I have my girls studying karate so don’t mess with them.

  • I am a Christian and an Elder Emeritus in the Presbyterian Church of Japan. It is my strong belief that we are all made in the image of God and deserving of love, respect and honor. Everyone is to be accepted and loved as they are, no matter where you are from, what you believe or what you look like. No exceptions. Love your neighbor as yourself. Anything else is dishonor God and the Work already accomplished for you on the cross by Y’eshua.
    We are meant to participate in and steward responsibly the active creation taking part around us. It is our duty to love and protect one another, the creatures, environment and the world at hand.

  • Active member in our children’s school, PTA, the local rugby fan club (Go D Rocks!) and our church’s homeless ministry and men’s ministry. We often take local families with us to the beach or hiking in the mountains to encourage stronger knit communities. Or we watch Marvel and Star Wars movies over a beer and BBQ.